Trypanocidal activity of ethanolic extracts of Commiphora swynnertonii Burtt on Trypanosoma congolense

BACKGROUND African trypanosomosis is the disease caused by extracellular protozoan parasites of the genus Trypanosoma transmitted by tsetse flies. The current study has evaluated the trypanocidal activity of Commiphora swynnertonii extracts on Trypanosoma congolense. METHODS The effect of ethanolic stem bark and resinous extracts on motility of T. congolense was evaluated by in vitro study at concentrations of 2 mg/ml and 4 mg/ml. Then, trypanocidal activity was evaluated by drug incubation infectivity test using mice at concentrations of 0.4 mg/ml and 2 mg/ml. In both studies negative (without drug) and positive (diminazene diaceturate) controls were used. RESULTS The in vitro study showed that, ethanolic stem bark extract of C. swynnertonii at concentration of 4 mg/ml caused complete cessation of motility for T. congolense in 30 min. However, resinous ethanolic extract had delayed effect on cessation of motility of T. congolense observed at 90 and 100 min post-incubation at concentrations of 4 mg/ml and 2 mg/ml respectively. The drug incubation infectivity test study depicted that ethanolic stem bark extract at concentration of 2 mg/ml significantly (p = 0.000) reduced the infectivity of T. congolense in mice. However, it did not vary significantly (P =0.897) with group treated with diminazene diaceturate incubated mixture. CONCLUSION The current study has provided evidence that, ethanolic stem bark extract of C. swynnertonii possess trypanocidal activity against T. congolense. Based on these findings, further studies are recommended to determine its potential as a lead to trypanocidal drug discovery.